Anyway, to the topic - you just need to play against better players, watch their games against other people and try understanding what's going here. Why they make moves like that, what do they achieve with them etc. I learned a lot just by watching ladder games and playing hundreds of them myself (practicing all the nuances), until I got good enough for top50 rank. :p

You picked perfectly, all set, 8 bonus after turn 1, 12 bonus turn 2, 16 bonus turn 3, then break out of africa somehow and conquer the rest of the map. Only while you were counting income, I blasted trough Europe with a stack bigger than your income next turn. i see half finished bonuses everywhere and absolutely nothing to be scared of. i load up, max delay and just start talking shit. i do this fora few rounds until your only bonus left is South Africa. While I'm tediously moving all of those armies down here for the last fight, about 4 minutes into your timeback the cold reality finally hits you. This is your fault. You were warned. Triple picking is for noobs. And then you surrender.

By respect I meant respect their ability as a player. If you play somebody you respect, you'd better make good picks if you want to beat him. If you play somebody you don't respect, you can make noob picks and still win, perhaps for fun.

For example if I were to play you, i might take a shot of vodka, put a blindfold on and shoot spitwads out of a straw to make my picks. Because I have absolutely no respect for your game. And I'd still crush you. If I played a player like Wally Balls, I'd take my picks very seriously and would never triple pic,

I thought I was good but some people are REALLY good. How do they do it?

I have also thought about this question and can't give a definitive answer. As for Wally Balls the best answer I can come up with is just his whole occurence. Each of his posts says indirectly: "Step aside you beta males, here comes THE alpha". This also explains why he has so many haters, they just see their own beta status and think if they join together as an internet mob they can take down the alpha guy.

As for myself, he has set an example off true greatness. Some kids have Superman as their idol, others Spiderman and others Batman. However as you grow older you need some real idols to look up unto, someone like Wally Balls.

I felt that what made Wally Balls so great was a combination of his modesty and his calm self effacing manner.

He didn't need to go round the forums making endless posts trying to convince people about how great he was, he let his ability in game do his talking for him.

Wally was above the triviality of wasting his time looking to persuade others of his clearly self evident greatness and let the community reach their own conclusions as to his greatness.

Other less wise players would shout as loud as they could about how great they were; but their boosts would fall upon deaf ears. Yet when Wally whispered, even the greatest would strain their ears to listen.

Wally Balls is the Kanye West of Warlight. Everybody talk shit because of his self promotion and what he says but if you look at his body of work and ignore that he is great at what he does. There are other great players to like Quicksand and Mr.Jack